The old Song and Dance (ATTN:Ice Storm)

[Blueblood]

If Sky Sailing was being honest, it was surprising how long it was before he and Wind Dancer did any collaborative professional work.  It wasn't for any lack of respect or compatibility of talent; both pegasi knew the other to be quite skilled in their field, and what could go better together than song and dance?  All that said, now that they were most definitely certain that they were Special Someponies to each other, it was only a matter of time.  Sky had finally finished work on his album, and Wind Dancer was ready to slot new material into rotation.

 

For the start, Sky had asked that Windy come out to his cloud home over the Los Pegasus reservoir.  There was enough open space for her to dance without danger to any bystanders, and Sky wanted to be close to his studio and equipment for the initial compositions.  "I don't know if you wanted to do a whole set with just my songs, or if you wanted to intersperse them with others you selected.  I'm fine either way, don't worry; just doing a full set is going to take a lot longer.  I'm not just writing songs, I want them all to flow into each other."  He explained, once she had arrived to see him surrounded by sheet music and a magi-crystal keyboard.

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Yes!!! This was one of the moments that she'd been waiting for ever since she'd met Sky Sailing! Of course, all the dates and the officially becoming special someponies thing was probably the most important and the happiest thing that's ever happened to her... but still. At the end of the day, she was a dancer! and her special somepony was a musician! This only seemed natural for them to do! She was waiting for him to finish his album and then she was waiting for a decent amount of time to open up in her performances so that she could start working on a new routine. Thankfully, Golden Bit let her take a couple of weeks off. The trade off was that the Mareage had to get the first duo performance of them, but if Wind Dancer was being completely honest with herself, the Mareage was probably where they were going to be performing anyway. It only made sense to her because the Mareage was one of Windy's favorite places here in Las Pegasus.

 

Of course, her favorite place in the world right now was wherever Sky was, and right now that was over the reservoir. Since she was going to be working on an entirely new routine with brand new music that Sky was going to be writing just for them, she was going to need lots of choreography paper!! And things to write with! She was quick to land on Sky's porch and see that he was already outside. She couldn't stop herself from doing her little excited trot in place routine as she landed. "Sky! Oh I'm so excited," she said refraining from rushing over to him and hugging him and potentially damaging some very expensive equipment. When he asked what she was thinking for the routine and if she wanted the routine to be entirely written by him or if she had a couple songs of her own to put in she got all giddy once again. "Oh! I was hoping that we could use your music for all of it! if wouldn't be much of a collaboration if I used music from somepony else. I do that all the time! I want this to be as special as you are," she smiled warmly.

[Blueblood]

He smiled, "Aw, thanks.  I'm just a little worried you might find it a little monotonous; you inject so much variety into your routines, much more than my own musical repertoire."  It was a little intimidating, to be honest.  Not so much that he'd ever turn down this opportunity, but he was quite worried that he would let Wind Dancer down.  "I'll do my best to stretch my wings, though.  I think we should start with a song I've done already, though."  He sat back to think bout it a little bit.  "What about the opening track to my new album?  It's got enough a beat to serve as a backbone, I think."

 

In order to play the song, he had to cue up recordings of some of the tracks, but the keyboard and vocals he did himself, just to keep in shape for live performances.  He had planned to share the stage during their collab, after all.  A dance routine to live music was just that much more special.

 

Spoiler

 

 

"Please take a long hard look through your text book
'Cause I'm history
When I strap my helmet on I'll be long gone
Cause I've been dying to leave
Yeah, I'll ride the range and hide all my loose change
In my bedroom
'Cause riding a dirt bike down a turnpike
Always takes it's toll on me

 

I've had just about enough
Of quote, "diamonds in the rough"
Because my backbone is paper thin
Get me out of this cavern
Or I'll cave in (I'll cave in, I'll cave in)

 

If the bombs go off
The sun will still be shining (the sun will still be shining)
Because we've heard it said that every mushroom cloud
Has a silver lining
(Though we're always undermining too deep to know)

Swallow a drop of gravel and blacktop
'Cause the road tastes like wintergreen
The wind and the rain smell of oil and octane
Mixed with stale gasoline.

I'll soak up the sound trying to sleep on the wet ground
I'll get ten minutes give-or-take
'Cause I just don't foresee myself getting drowsy
When cold integrity keeps me wide awake

 

Get me out of this cavern
Or I'll cave in (cave in, cave in, cave in, cave in, cave in)
Get me out of this cavern
Or I'll cave in

 

I'll keep my helmet on just in case my head caves in (in case my head caves in)
'Cause if my thoughts collapse or my framework snaps
It'll make a mess like you wouldn't believe
Tie my handlebars to the stars so I stay on track (so I stay on track)
And if my intentions stray I'll wrench them away
Then I'll take my leave and I won't even look back

I won't even look back"

 

It was a song he hadn't played for her before, though it was one of the early ones he wrote soon after coming to Los Pegasus.  It was in response to the often claustrophic feeling tall buildings would give him.  Not to mention, how easy he felt it would be lose himself, navigating by the false stars of the neon lights.  The allusions were subtle, though, so as not to insult his host city.

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer shook her head when Sky said that he was worried that she might find some of his stuff a little monotonous. That she injected so much variety into her shows and it was much more than what he was writing. "Not at all! I keep everything varied so that I can keep the crowd involved a bit. But the tempo and the beat is actually what dictates the type of dance that I use for it. Something upbeat and fast will have a sharper and faster routine. With that will usually come more sudden gusts of wind and the emphasis for it is more on the dance itself rather than the wind effects. Gusts are a lot harder to control than sustained winds. Melodic tempos will give me a change to build up a sustained wind to give a sudden strong burst at the climax," she said with a smile explaining a few of the nuances of dancing.

 

When he said that they should start with a song that he had already written, and that he said that it had a good backbone beat for a dance. She nodded to Sky and she smiled. "I think that is a good idea. Play it for me once and let me get my creative juice going and I'll start scripting the routine, and then we can play it a second time and I can see if everything flows like it does in my mind. And something to remember. We're planning a completely new routine! We might hit a few snags along the way and it's not going to be easy, but the most important thing to remember is we don't have to get it all done in a day," she said with a smile and a nuzzle. "We have all the time in the world, so we don't need to rush anything. We can make this perfect!" Wind smiled happily as she sat next to Sky. She made sure not to crowd him too much as she listened to him starting to play.

 

As soon as she heard the intro, and that shift, her eyes lit up, and she began scribbling. This song had the makings of a good mix of melodic and punch. She could already envision the lighting and what she wanted to do with it. This was actually going to be rather easy for her choreograph. Her pencil was going a mile a second in her mouth looking down at the water, and then up into the sky. The thing with being a pegasus dancer. The sky and the ground were literally the two limits, and everything in between was her canvas. She was also thinking about doing a bit more experimental stuff. She's been afraid to try to do anything substantial with her wings in direct moves, but so far they've held up to everything that she's pushed them through. She should be able to handle some of the ideas that she had. As she heard the song end and started fading out.

 

"That is amazing! It was so heartfelt and the beat and the melodic balance were perfect! I also liked the fade out at the end, but for the dance I feel that should be a sudden cut after the three chord pops right before the crystal bend right after the sound drop. That fade out is perfect for the album though. That will give a good hard stopping point for the routine and give a good flow into the next piece. That said, I have a good idea of what I want to do for this. We won't have the lighting effects here, but I can envision those while doing the dance. Do you think that you can give that song another whirl?" she asked as she stood up and began stretching. Once Sky said yes, if he said yes, she would move down to the surface of the reservoir and get ready.

[Blueblood]

Sky nodded, as she explained her choreography process.  "I understand.  I'm thinking more at the level of showmareship than the craft itself, though.  I've no doubt you could make a good dance out of anything; I was just worried that you wouldn't be able to get the crowd involved as much as you usually like to."  He had to laugh at himself, continuing, "Of course, if they're willing to listen to one of my concerts, which is nothing but me playing, I guess I shouldn't worry."

 

He adjusted the tuning on his keyboard, more as a way to occupy his hooves as his mind worked through her suggestions, stopping only to return her nuzzle.  "Hm, so more of a smash cut than a fade out?  I can do that.  Also let me know if you want to adjust the instrument balance any.  We'll be doing this live, and I usually do some change ups from the album version when I play stage shows."  Getting up from the wiring, he sat back down at the keys and tried a few chords.  Excellent.  Laying his pinfeathers on the keys, he signaled to Wind Dancer.  "Ready when you are!"

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer couldn't fault his thought process. After all he was right, a lot of her shows were catered more towards keeping the crowd involved, and some of them used a couple a gimmicks for just that. She remembered the drop into the volcano everything Beethooven's 5th started during her Sunday routine. Still, She was a professional and she could find a way to get the crowd involved no matter what music she was dancing to. After all, the entire point of that drop was to get all the new comers to stand on their seats for the upcoming tidal wave that she was going to bring to them. Some of the regulars of her had gotten wise to it, but everypony they brought with them always seemed to fall for it. She chalked it up to being one of those things everypony had to experience once. She further nodded in agreement when Sky said that he shouldn't be worried about anything like that.

 

As she landed on the surface of the reservoir, she heard Sky tell her to let him know if the balance needed adjusting and that a smash cut would be quite easy for him. That was good. If there was one thing that almost anypony would notice with her routines, they almost all ended with a smash cut. It was much easier for her to plan a sharper pose and release the wind she's built in a sudden pop than a slow fade out. There were a couple exceptions, but those were few and far in between. "Everything sounds good. Give me a count of when ready!" she smiled as she heard the cue. The intro chords that she heard she let her weight shift ever so slightly. Maintaining the illusion that she was standing on the water was always a  bit if a task, but the effects that they granted were worth it. Plus that trick was usually only needed for a start or end of a routine.

 

With that slight shift though, she began to rotate clockwise on the surface of the lake and the fluttering of her wings jostling the water under her just enough that it was starting to get picked up in the small draft that she was starting to make. Using the wind, she directed the water in a few intersecting arches over her as the soft intro then gave into the more powerful version of the same rife and the first hard cut came out, the gust pushing all the water that was over her in one direction, presumably where she was intending the crowd to be. She led into a couple of full-body twists that were already seemingly perfectly in time with the beat. It followed a similar concept through the first verse, a three burst move with a fourth flowing into the next set along with the bend. Every set of bursts came with another gust of wind, although a few of those bursts managed to get away from her a bit. She'd made them a tad bit more powerful than she was expecting and diverted some of the water that she was using but she was quickly able to harness that power in and just chalked it up to first time jitters and excitement to actually doing this with the most important pony in her world.

 

The first set was a burst with her left forehoof forward and her right hind leg back perfectly level to the water leading into a close-winged three-quarter stance and then a fully extended upright open-winged stance, her left wing flowing into the next series of pop moves. Her whole form turned a hundred and eighty degrees. Her left wing shot out first then, then her body flowed with the motion and finished that burst with a stomp sending water up into the air that she caught with her wings. If Sky was paying attention, he would notice himself that she was starting to use her wings a lot more in her show, even more than she normally would. Every burst set had wing movement in it and of course, she was building tension. The water started swirling around her as if the winds were starting to make a vortex around her, and then the same moment that Sky sang "on me" she stomped once again and this tome was airborne as she dispersed the tension and the wind that was around her, going through slow melodic and thoughtful sequences. She dropped down to the surface of the water and she lightly dragged her hooves across it's surface to generate shapes in the waves.

 

When the second verse started, Wind Dancer shifted the focus. The dance was still melodic, but was sharp and precise and in time with the percussion, at least for the most part. There were a few kicks that she missed the timing on slightly but she kept going. This was a trial run of course and so far everything that she'd though of and scripted for her thoughts in regard to this was working perfectly. As the song continued and she made her way back up into the air. The gusts and the vibrations in the air building once again as she starting bouncing the winds off of each other to create not one but two vortexes of water, building up once again. She was imagining the lighting effects here going crazy as everything built up for the final climax of the song and when Sky sang, "never look back" she started flowing around the vortexes herself with rhythmic movements and if Sky were to see her face during the ride, he would see nothing but glee. The song then went back to that pulsing Rhythm and mid move as she went into a final sequence she gave a nod to cut and with one final pose all the tension released and the water blew up into the are to fall back down as a shower of rain.

 

She couldn't help but pant a bit. "What... Did you think?" she yelled between breaths before flying back to the cloud house and landing a tad bit winded but otherwise still good to go. "I need to get some of the opening under control a bit better, and tighten some things up in the middle there, but over all I liked what I was feeling. I also think the lighting that I'm envisioning will really make that piece sparkle. After all, that's kinda what I started planning this song around as soon as you started it. Similar to how I used the lighting effects for Sandstone," she told him with a smile.

[Blueblood]

"OK, One-and-a-two-and-a-three!"  Counting off the start of his repeat performance, Sky kicked off into the song again.  Despite his offer, he didn't change up too much; the bass was boosted somewhat to carry better down to the reservoir, and the string track was moved a few steps up in the volume priority.  Sky always felt that string instruments complimented Wind Dancer's style well, and he resolved to incorporate more of them into his compositions.  *Hopefully someday with live recordings, rather than synthesized notes.  I wonder who I'd be able to get for a stage show?*  Octavia Philharmonic immediately sprang to mind, though the idea of that high-demand cellist gracing one of his songs was... well, he was going to think it was ridiculous, but the way his life was going now, who knew?

 

The ending, this time, was cut right after the second set of "Da-da-da-dat-da's," though he felt the end of it to be a little awkward.  Perhaps he'd best move into a crescendo of chord progressions; returning to the first would make the end sound more natural.  Making a slight note of that, he looked up from the paper, smiling as Windy asked him for feedback.  "It's hard to say; I don't think this is the same angle your audience will be viewing from.  That said, it looked pretty great to me, even with the natural sunlight being undirected.  It almost looked as if you were making a tunnel of water at one point, and I thought that was a nice visual metaphor for a 'cave-in' to suit the lyrics.  I think that might just have been my vantage point, though; but I think it would be a cool idea!"

 

 

Setting aside the first schedule sheets, Sky picked up a new one, pondering.  "If I remember right, you usually like to kick up the tempo on the second round.  I'm not sure what I've got is that much more, but... hm, this might work.  It's a B-side that I only released with the first small run; a remix of one of my first ever songs.  Instrumental, which makes a good contrast, even if the tempo starts slow.  Let me know what you think...."

 

Spoiler

 

 

The tempo did indeed start slow and melodic; Wind Dancer would recognize the riff from "Hello Seaddle," the last track from his first EP.  As the track progressed, however, the melodic instrumental transitioned to a more obviously synthesized set of riffs, percussion becoming more pronounced, until the whole track was what one might expect to hear in a club jam!

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer listened as she heard what Sky's take on the routine she thought up for the song that he had shown her. He admitted that while he was positive he wasn't seeing everything from the views of the audiance, everything looked great. He added that the natural sunlight did wonders on her on its own. She couldn't help but blush a bit, but she smiled warmly and continued to listen his assessment. He added that it almost looked like she was making a tunnel of water at one point and he thought that was perfect for the nature of the cave in part of the piece. A perfect visual metaphor. Wind Dancer nodded. "Mhm! that's kinda what I was thinking to. I am already planning on the Mareage putting us on their pond in front of the Volcano. It's really the only spot that they have for me to really let loose on, and surely Golden Bit would know if I'm doing a colab with somepony else, that I'm going to let it loose. Especially when that somepony is my special somepony," she giggled. "That said... I wonder if we could get something worked out to where we could set up here... This would be a perfect performance venue!" she smiled.

 

She then nodded when Sky said that he noticed that she usually liked to kick it up a notch for the second piece. He said that he wasn't sure what he had that was much more upbeat than what he just did, but he said he did have one thing. That it started slow, and it was purely instrumental, but then it picked up quite a bit. When she heard the intro though, all of her fur stood on end. This intro was slow, and soft.... and absolutely beautiful... She already knew what she wanted to do for it, and it was less of a dance moment. She heard the synth began to pick up and that solidfied everything for her. That intro was the perfect intro for a small confession moment, the emotion behind it, the purity of it! That was going to make it super easy for her to get the crowd involved. She knew that she was supposed to be writing stuff down and thinking about the choreography for the piece, but she was too lost in the song. She could feel the music washing over her. Even with it being up beat, it was oddly... relaxing for her. She couldn't help but lean against Sky as she listened. "This is beautiful..." she spoke silently to him as everything transitioned. She had thoughts and visions, but this song was going to be one that she'd have to listen to many, many times in order to plan a routine for as she already knew she would lose herself in it a few times. As it faded out, she smiled.

 

"Okay, you're definitely going to have to get me a recording of that one. First off, I absolutely love it! It's so beautiful and surprisingly relaxing that can see me losing myself in it without even trying. And those rave sections in the middle oh by the stars there's so much I can do with that... that I can't possibly pen this song in a day. That being said... do you think we could include that duet that you wrote as well? And perhaps maybe a song for me to try singing while dancing? I'll be honest I was kinda surprised when you pulled it out for your first performance, but... if felt so good and I've been wanting to try something like that again ever since! If were doing this true colab, then I want a song where we both sing together and then we both dance together!" she said with a hopeful smile. She loved everything he was doing, and she wanted to be able to share everything.

[Blueblood]

"Hmm...."  Sky rubbed his chin, as he tried to picture the reservoir as a potential amphitheater.  "I know the fact that trees grow by the side of this artificial lake makes it a popular camping destination; I don't know if we could get the city to approve it if it was just us, but maybe as part of a larger festival...?"  One of those big, multi-day caravan concerts... yes, that might well work as an idea.  "It would be a good way of bringing all the musicians in town out of their narrow venues to all play together; dancers, too.  A lot of good things can come of bringing them both together, I mean, look at us!"  He grinned, filing away the idea for serious consideration and planning.

 

He was honestly pleased that Wind Dancer thought so highly of what was just a b-side remix.  "Hm, I may have to make that a regular concert opener, then, when I go on tour.  I want to have some live musicians in the show, since that will be better than just me playing track recordings and singing into a mic.  This, though, will give everypony time to set up."  He wrapped a wing around her as she leaned against him, sighing with contentment.  "The Saltwater Room, right?  I can definitely do that.  And it's funny you mentioned a song you could sing with me, I've actually been working on a new duet.  Bit more acoustic at the beginning, but I think that could be a fun bit of choreography, where I'm sitting down, playing the guitar, and then you take me up onto the stage as the fuller track recordings kick in.  Here, have a listen..."  He turned around to fetch his guitar, biting down a few bits of paper that held the lyrics and chords.

"Ptui, I put your words in green ink.  I'll take the first verse so you know the tune..."

 

Spoiler

 

 

"Don't remind me that some days I'm the windshield,

And other days I'm just a lucky bug,

These cold iron rails leave old mossy trails through the countryside,

The crow and the bean field are my best friends

But boy, I need a hug. (Boy I need a hug)

'Cause my heart stops without you, there's something about you,

That makes me feel alive!

 

If the green left the grass on the other side,

I would make like a tree and leave,

If I reached for your hoof would your eyes get wide?

Who knew the other side could be so green?

 

Don't remind me that I'm a chickadee in love with the sky,

But that's clearly not a lot to crow about,

'Cause when the stars silhouette me,

I'm scared they'll forget me, And flicker out.

I taste honey but I haven't seen the hive,

Yeah, I didn't look, I didn't even try,

But still my heart stops without you 'cause there's something about you,

That makes me feel alive.

 

If the green left the grass on the other side,

I would make like a tree and leave,

If I reached for your hoof would your eyes get wide?

Who knew the other side could be so green?

 

We are honey and the bee. 

 

Backyard of butterflies surrounding me,

I fell in love with you like bees to honey,

So let's up and leave the weeping to the willow tree,

And pour out tears in the sea.

I swear, there's a lot of vegetables out there,

That crop up for air,

Yeah, I never thought, we were two peas in a pod,

Until you suddenly bloomed, then I knew, that I'd always love you.

Oh, I'll always love you too.

 

If the green left the grass on the other side,

I would make like a tree and leave,

If I reached for your hand would your eyes get wide?

Who knew the other side could be so green?

 

If the green left the grass on the other side,

I would make like a tree and leave,

If I reached for your hoof would your eyes get wide?

Who knew the other side could be so green?

 

And if I reached for your hoof for the rest of my life,

Who knew the other side could be so green?"

 

The song was so full of puns that Sky Sailing must have had a blast writing it, but it wasn't nearly as fun as actually playing and singing it together.  He couldn't stop smiling throughout the whole thing, nor could he help kissing Wind Dancer right after they finished, hooves clasped just like in the chorus.

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind thought about what Sky had said, and he was right. Getting a casino to approve of their concert would be one thing. She knew that she could talk Golden Bit into supporting just about anything that she did, but talking the rest of Las Pegasus into something like that for a single performance was probably going to be a bit much. Making that performance an all-day or even a multi-day festival, and something that the entire city could make bits off of, they could definitely approve that. "Yes, a festival for dance and music. I like that a lot. I'll begin working on a pitch for that myself. I know I can get golden on board, it's the rest of LP I'm worried about. Not so much Ice Storm either, but the Flams... I can't trust them as far as I can throw them," she said in agreement.

 

Wind clapped her hooves with a giddy glee when Sky said that they could do the Saltwater Room, and was even more gleeful when he said that he'd been working on another duet. She watched him grab his guitar, saying that this one started off a bit more acoustic, but that could be part of the choreography. That she could take him up to the stage as the other tracks kicked in and made the sound fuller. She nodded when he told her to listen and nodded once again when he told her that her words were in green ink. She listened as the song started, and he was right. The song started out quite acoustic, but just like everything else it sounded really good. It had a decent enough beat that there was a dance score that she could do with it, but the beat itself was simple enough that she felt like she could easily include Sky. She'd never seen him dance before though, so she actually wasn't sure.

 

All of her focus though went to the sheet in front of her though as Sky started singing. She heard him going through the verse. She couldn't help but smirk as she read over some of the lyrics, and she wasn't sure why but the lucky bug line just got her. She could feel herself swaying a bit naturally with the light beat that it held. When she saw what her own first line was though, she could only roll her eyes at the pun and smile. Still, she made sure that she was ready. She didn't want to miss her cue after all, and once it got there, she jumped in.

 

"...

I would make like a tree and leave,

...

Who knew the other side could be so green?

 

Don't remind me that I'm a chickadee in love with the sky,

But that's clearly not a lot to crow about,

'Cause when the stars silhouette me,

I'm scared they'll forget me, And flicker out.

I taste honey but I haven't seen the hive,

Yeah, I didn't look, I didn't even try,

But still my heart stops without you 'cause there's something about you,

That makes me feel alive.

...

I would make like a tree and leave,

...

Who knew the other side could be so green?

...

I fell in love with you like bees to honey,

...

And pour out tears in the sea.

...

Oh, I'll always love you too.

...

I would make like a tree and leave,

...

Who knew the other side could be so green?

...

I would make like a tree and leave,

...

Who knew the other side could be so green?

...

Who knew the other side could be so green?"

 

Wind Dancer herself couldn't stop smiling from the song as all of the lines were actually quite fun and funny. It was clear that Sky had a blast writing it, but there was something even more special about singing it together. She felt Sky give her a kiss, and she turned and gave him one of her own, wrapping her wings around him in the process, much tighter than a pony would have thought possible with a pair of wings. "Yeah... we definitely need to do more of those," she giggled. She wasn't sure honestly what the crowd would think of it, but it was fun, and she could dance and sing at the same time. She'd never seen an inherent rule that said that she couldn't, and all of this just made her want to do even more together. In fact, at this moment she could think of nowhere else she'd rather be. "That was a blast to sing, and with all of those puns... it had to be a blast to write," she giggled.

[Blueblood]

Sky tilted his head as Windy recited some names at him.  "The Flams?  I can't say I've heard the name mentioned, good or bad.  Why would you say they couldn't be trusted?"  He wasn't the sort of stallion to naturally think ill of anypony, but if trouble came attached to some, it would probably be best to know of it before making any grand plans.

 

Fortunately, thoughts were soon taken back to more delightful places, as the duet commenced.  Wind Dancer had a lovely singing voice; he was definitely bringing her on as a guest on at least a few tracks of his albums from now on.  "I can promise you that there will be.  And yeah, I like trying to put at least a little wordplay into the things I write, silly as it may sometimes sound."  He checked his notes again.  "So... by my count, we've got four tracks lined up: Cave In, Hello Seaddle Remix, The Saltwater Room, and Honey and the Bee.  You usually do four tracks a set, if I remember?  Hm, though... I think we need something more for a big finish.  I actually don't have anything in mind, but that's just a good reason to write a new song!  So... what were you thinking, to wrap up the whole thing?"

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

"The Flim Flam Brothers. They are some of the biggest crooks in Las Pegasus and try to extort every bit they can out of everything, usually to fund another scheme to rid ponies of either jobs or bits. They've tried Swindling Sweet Apple Acres out of business, made fake tonics, and nearly shut down the school of friendship. At it stands now, they unfortunately too over ownership of one of the popular resorts here in LP after it's original owner was ran out of town for being even more crooked than them and actually turning Ponies against each other.

 

The Flams have been wanting me to do shows at their resort every since they took over, but they wanna charge outrageous prices for the tickets. They wanted to charge a minimum of 200 bits a ticket just for the show and another 100 just to shake my hoof. That's rediculous, and does not represent who I am at all. I refuse to charge more than thirty bits for any show. My shows after for everypony, not just the extremely rich," Wind told him after the duet in response to Flim and Flam.

 

She was also quite excited when Sky told her that there would definitely be a lot more some like that in the future and that the word play is kinda what made that song. Though she did have to hold up a hoof a bit when he mentioned a four song set. "Actually, I usually do six, but that's not based off of length more than anything else. My shows should last at least thirty minutes. Otherwise I feel like I haven't lived up to the expectations that I've set for myself," she said softly. 

 

When Sky asked about working on something new though, her eyes lit up. "Oh, yes actually!!! I thought I'd try my hoof at writing some lyrics. Hopefully they aren't too bad. I'm not a song writer by any means," she started before handing him a sheet of paper with the words she had scribbled down. 

 

 

Spread My Wings and Fly

 

(Spoken over intro)
Hello everypony!
I wanted to thank everypony for coming out tonight.
Tonight we’re going to do something a little bit different. A very special somepony in my life opened me up to an entire other world of opportunities that we can share and cherish together. And I for one wish to take advantage of those.

Has anypony here ever experienced that one moment in your life that something unexpected happens, and leaves you wondering what you’re going to do next? That makes you wonder if you’re ever going to pull out of the hole that it left behind? This Song is for you. 

 

 

Verse: 1
One mistake, is all it takes…
To change a life, and raise the stakes
A lil soaring through a town, 
As your life turns upside down,
And your hopes and dreams…
They all just fade away.

 

Verse: 2
Things look dark, and things look grim.
To fall apart, to a broken limb,
They all said it could be worse,
It could have ended in a hearse.
But the hurt and pain,
never fades away…

 

Chorus
Look up to the sky, where there’s no sun a shining
Stormy clouds roll in, without a silver lining.
What was once a perfect sea, 
was no longer meant for me
All that’s left is to wonder why,
I cannot spread my wings and fly.

 

Small bridge, background tempo and instrumentation pick up. 

 

Verse: 3 
Just Like that, they say they can’t
what’s done is done, That’s all they chant. 
But you bet your hoof and tail, 
there’s still wind left to be sailed.  
and I’m not going down without a fight.

 

Chorus
Look up to the sky, where the sun begins to shine
Between all those clouds, Streaks of blue crack and line.
What is still a perfect sea, 
Might yet still be meant for me
All that’s left is to say it’s time,
It’s time to, spread my wings and fly.

 

It’s time to, spread my wings and fly….

 

It’s time to, spread my wings and fly…

 

Bridge (Transition to Major key)

Verse 4

Now it’s Time, To take this flight
To claim my wings, to win this fight!
Don’t matter how it happened,
You friends will keep you laughin’,
And the best ones come forth, 
To save the day. 

 

Building chorus:

Look up to the Sky, That sun is still a shinin’
No clouds left to see, Those blue skies keep a signin’
In that perfect Sky-blue sea
It was always meant for me
No more painful nights for me,
No more hard core therapy
All my fear has set me free,
 And, now I can stand up and see….

 

To Look up at the sky, and see that sun burning high
Not a cloud so clear, Free blue skies that bits can’t buy
That perfect ol’ sky-blue sea
It was always mean for me, 
I can finally say it’s time
To Spread my wings and fly!

 

She sat there in silence while she waited for Sky to look them over. "Are they okay?"

[Blueblood]

Sky gave a low whistle at the stated prices.  "Yeah, I can definitely see that you just wouldn't get along with that sort."  A thought occurred to him, though, and he had to speak up about it.  "Although, since you sell tickets so cheap, do you have a problem with scalpers?  I've talked with a lot of more experienced musicians; they often find that when they price low, the shows sell out quick, but a lot of times a good chunk of the tickets are bought up by, well, folks like the Flim Flams, who resell tickets to sold-out shows at big markups.  Which is the worst of both worlds, really."  It was possible that doing a show every week cut down on that sort of thing, but if they ever ended up going on tour together, they'd play weekends in different cities, and this sort of thing was bound to come up.

 

Nodding at the half-hour minimum set, Sky Sailing had to agree that was a pretty good number for a concert as well, but his eyes really lit up when she mentioned that she'd written a song of her own.  "Oh, really?  Let me see!"  Eagerly taking the sheet from Wind Dancer, he scanned through it, smiling slightly as he saw the written-out intro.  *She must have pictured singing this for her audience for a while now.*

After reading it through, Sky could see why.  "Ah... I can tell you put a lot heart behind these.  Pain too, as well as joy.  I'd be honored to put them to music, though I only hope I can do them justice."

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

"Actually no. Or at least none that's been brought to my attention. It wouldn't surprise me if somepony has tried, but I don't think many have been that successful at it. Golden Bit's security is really good about stuff like that and she knows exactly what I want out and expect when it comes to my shows. I am a bit of a stickler when it comes to things like that, but it's because I care about everypony else and I want everypony to be happy and see them smile. Seeing my audience happy, is the most important thing in the world to me. I hate seeing crying fillies because they were looking forward to seeing a show only to be told that they couldn't go because it was either full or they were gouging prices," she spoke before taking a deep breath. The topic of Flim and Flam and how they handled things irritated her to no end, but this was not the time and place for her to get upset about that.

 

"Although that is another reason why I only do outside shows anymore. Aside from the fact that it's much harder for me to accidentally break something outside with my winds, I'm also a lot less restricted on space. Which means it's a lot harder to sell out. That also helps with Scalpers because until the fences are actually full, we sell tickets, and unlike other performers, I will push back a performance slightly to make sure everypony is at least in the performance area before starting. I don't want ponies to miss a good part of the performance before they even get into the show," Wind smiled.

 

Then she waited while she let Sky read over her lyrics that she wrote. He told her that he could definitely tell that they were wrote from the heart, and that there was both a lot of pain as well as joy. He told her that he would be honored to put them to music, but he just hoped that he could do them justice. "I know you will! You're an amazing song writer and everything fits so well! I'm just happy that you like them so much. I honestly didn't know if they were any good or not. I started writing this the moment we sang our duet and I knew that what we felt was real and true," she said with a smile before leaning happily against him.

[Blueblood]

Sky gave a relieved smile at hearing how well Golden Bit took care of that part of his worries.  "I can only hope to get a manager who treats everypony as well as she does."  He took the papers, placing them above the keyboard.  For a few moments, he was distracted, even as Wind Dancer leaned against him, humming and picking out notes on the keyboard as he tried to get a melodic line to fit.  He was starting with the chorus first, working out towards the verses, shifting in and out of major and minor keys, trying to find something that sounded just as good in either.

 

"...That perfect ol' sky-blue sea; was always meant for me..."  He sang along softly, before coming to with a start.  "Huh, I wonder if- Oh!"  He looked over at Windy, as if he had forgotten she was there.  "Heh, sorry.  That took me a bit into my head, I can forget the outside world when that happens.  Gonna have to make sure that last repetition comes with a wall of sound, we could make a big finish out of it."  He tapped his chin, thinking.  "I think that makes a set!  Though, let's see, I wonder if I could do something for an encore.... something in reserve..."  He smacked his forehead.  "Oh, of course, Fireflies!  That one's always a hit at my live sets, and that was one of the ones you first inspired, too!"

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind kinda raised an eyebrow when she heard Sky say that he hoped that he could get a manager that was as good and treated ponies the way Golden Bit did. "Why do you need a manager at all? I don't have one and I'm doing just fine. Besides, we have each other that we can bounce ideas off of and see if they work. Golden Bit is an amazing pony, but she's just the casino owner. After seeing the fiasco that happened with Coloratura, I didn't want to risk getting somepony like that that didn't have my best interests at heart. Honestly I don't trust most of them," she told him.

 

She nodded as Sky seemed to zone out a bit looking at the lyrics, and then looked back to her saying that he had an idea for that ending and making sure there was a wall of sound. "Yup! That's kinda what I was envisioning! Something loud, up beat, and happy sounding!" she smiled as he also mentioned using Fireflies as an encore song and she nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Perhaps since it's a festival of sorts, we could bring some of the crowd out to join the dancing for it, or make another instrumental piece that had no choreography and is completely free form for that to follow it!" she added with a smile.

[Blueblood]

"Don't forget, you're not on tour."  Sky Sailing pointed out, when Wind Dancer questioned his need for a manager.  "You really only have to deal with one venue whose owner you have a long-standing relationship with.  But all that has to be arranged from the ground up with every stop when you're traveling, not to mention the host of complicated things that come up when you go overseas, which I really want to do, eventually."  He sighed.  "We're good with the creative stuff, but I don't think either of us are really talented in matters of business.  All the same, I don't think it's healthy to go through life being distrustful.  Sure, the Countess had one famous example of a bad manager, but can you name two?  I can't.  I don't think most managers, most ponies are like that."  It might have been naivete as much as optimism on the stallion's part that made him say that he hadn't grown up in the big city, but in a mid-size factory town.  Never in his life had he been betrayed, and it showed.

 

Wind Dancer's last suggestion for a freeform song really perked his interest, though.  "Ah, yes!  That would be the perfect opportunity to use the illusory fireflies we talked about.  Send them into the crowd, and let them play with the swirling lights too!  And the nice thing about that, is that the encore never looks the same way twice; nice little way of injecting some variety into the show."  

 

Gathering all the papers together, he slipped them between to pinfeathers to straighten the stack and slip a paperclip on it.  "I think that's our set!  I still need to work through the finale tune, but we can get the first drafts of the choreography going for the starting four.  What do you say?"

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

Wind Dancer somewhere underestimated where Sky was coming from and he admitted that counts had one really famous example of a bad manager, but asked her if she could think of two. Honestly, she couldn't but that was mostly because she never really bothered to look into it. Still, she didn't like the idea of somepony else running her life down to the where and what they were eating. Although if they were a good manager, them she supposed that they would only focus on arranging the shows and would let them decide what to do in between them.

 

"I can see your point to going overseas, but having somepony else telling you, the creator, exactly what you have to do, when you have to do it, and how you have to do it all the way down to what you can eat and where you can and can't go or what you can and can't see... It just sounds that as soon as you sign a contract with a manager, you soon away everything that makes what you're doing fun. I suppose that would depend on the manager that we ended up getting, but I know that most here and LP are only in it for themselves. There are more ponies in this city like Flim and Flam than there are like me, Golden, or Icy... Hmmm, why don't we look in one of the smaller towns and see if there might be anypony there trying to get a break? I think that would already make me feel better about the idea knowing that were also helping somepony new to get into the industry," she suggested.

 

When Sky lit up at the idea of the freeform dance at the end Wind clapped her hooves together excitedly. He noted that also means that no two shows would be exactly the same. "Exactly my thoughts! Plus the fans will remember what shows they actually get to interact with, and that will bring more fans!" She smiled happily as he said that they had everything they needed and could start working on the choreography for the other four songs. "Works for me. I'm ready to dive in if you are."

[Blueblood]

Sky had to laugh at Wind Dancer's worries.  "From what I hear from my musical friends, that 'overbearing manager' type is a bit of a stereotype, though you do see it sometimes when a celebrity gets famous when they're very young.  They're not quite ready to take care of themselves yet, so their manager steps in.  Unfortunately, that often means they never bother growing up the rest of the way.  But I like the idea of bringing in a small-town pony to serve that role.  Part of the reason I built all this,"  He gestured back at the recording studio, "Is to help other artists record as well as myself.  Nopony's singing career lasts forever, but most of the industry lifers stay in by helping the next generation take the stage.  Always thought there was something beautiful about the continuity there.  A bit like becoming a father, really."  He blushed a bit, considering that if he and Windy continued on as they'd been doing, he would become a father in the near future!

 

With a nod, he flipped to the page where he had put the score for the Hello Seaddle remix.  "How do you typically write to the music?  Do you do full passes, or do you stop and re-start segments until you've got something that looks and feels right?  I can do either, just want to make sure."

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

"Now that I've seen countless times," she said I'm response to Sky talking about ponies getting famous really young and as a result, they never truly grew up. "That is surprisingly common in the dance and the Showmare industry. A lot of ponies come here to try to strike it big, and while most of them expect to get let down, every once in a while, somepony strikes gold and they don't know how to react to it before they crash and burn," she replied.

 

She them listened as she said that she liked her idea of looking in small towns as he explained that singing careers didn't last forever, and truthfully, neither did dancing. She knew that while everything was great right now, eventually, the injury to her wing was going to take it's toll. Hearing him talk about his recording studio and letting others use it to make their own name made her think. "That's really sweet. Perhaps when I start getting older and things start getting harder to do I could open my own dance studio and teach different dances," she smiled a bit before blushing a small bit herself when he added that it was kinda like becoming a father. 

 

She's honestly never thought about that herself, but now that she was with her special somepony, becoming a mother was no longer really an if, but more of a matter of when. She began to wonder if she'd be ready when that day comes. Still, that was a ways off yet. Hey mind was brought back to the current when Sky asked how she usually wrote to the music. If she did it in one continuous motion, or if she did stop and go until something felt right.

 

"Honestly, it's a little bit of both. Some songs it just comes naturally, others take a bit more planning. That first song you played that all felt natural and fun. Honestly I probably don't even need to score that one. That second song will take a bit to get down and the last two I'm doing choreograph for two ponies. So that will be a lot of start and stop. Sometimes it can be about as frustrating as it is fun. You get this idea that should work on paper and everything points to it being possible, but you go to put it to practice and it just doesn't come out right," she said with a smile. "Ultimately, it's up to you today, since you're the one playing the music."

 

"Oh! And actually if we're doing both the saltwater room and the new duet you wrote, that would make five songs for the set. But I'm okay with whatever you wanna do first. I do know that everything works best when I focus on one song at a time, so I which ever one we choose to go with will be there one we go with today," she finished with a smile.

[Blueblood]

"I can't say it surprises me.  Back in Cloudsdale, whenever you got your cutie mark in something, you generally started working on it, at least part-time.  I had a few classmates who got performance marks, and they set out to make it big pretty early.  Because that's what they were meant to do, they thought it would be an easy ride to the top."  He sighed, shaking his head.  "My mark's a little more abstract than that, and my folks are a little more... grounded, if that's the right word for pegasi.  In any case, I did my time as a cold storage worker while I built my skills and studio.  Left town a real adult, at least."

 

Somewhat sorrowful musings on the likely life paths of past classmates were put aside as the work of the day resumed once again.  Thoughts of the future had to wait until it was secured, and that happened one day at a time.  One of the lessons learned from a few years among the working public who now bought tickets to see them.  "Hm, well, lets start with Hello Seaddle's remix; that has distinct sections that I think we should go through, since I think they would be distinct moods.  There's the soft intro, the psuedo-dubstep body, and the melodic bridge."

 

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/Kz0lMQLUsGo

The keyboard strumming began again, this time with a certain degree of deliberation.  Windy was right enough, he suspected, in thinking that one song would have to be choreographed per day.  Then, cane the practice sessions, which would be considerable.  But labor done out of love hardly feels like work.

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

"I've seen that here a few times here as well. My own Cutie mark isn't really all that telling in of itself. Honestly it's just a few gusts of wind," she said with a smile as  she showed it off a bit. "But who would have thought a few gusts of wind would have lead to something so amazing as all of this!" she smiled as she gestured over the reservoir. "I know that when I first got it, I sure didn't. And then less than a week of getting it... I almost never got off the ground at all..." she said looking a bit down at the thoughts before shaking her head a bit before looking back as Sky continued. "I guess one could say it was the opposite for me than most. I was forced to a very harsh growing up moment, so I didn't have a choice in the matter to look at the world a bit differently than most. And you know what, as much hurt and heartache it caused in the past. I wouldn't trade any of it," she said leaning in to give Sky another kiss. "Cause if I did, I wouldn't have the one thing I care about the most with me," she said with a warm smile.

 

When Sky said that he wanted to start with the remix, Wind Dancer nodded and started getting out more paper to focus on the scripting. Of course, that was if she didn't lose herself in the music... like she was prone to doing in her practice sessions... Sometimes she'd just start getting so relaxed and happy that she'd actually forget that she was supposed to be practicing and just start moving naturally. Of course, that was when she sometimes came up with her best stuff. She listened as Sky started playing once again, and she heard the smooth and soft tempo of the melodic intro. Almost instantly she found herself getting lost in it before shaking her head and smiling as she listened on. She knew that she wanted her dance to be in time with the primary melody. She was struggling to translate what she wanted to do on paper though. Visualizing it was one thing, putting it to paper. That was always the hard part for her. If she couldn't put anything to paper she could forget about being able to teach this stuff at some point.

 

Still, most of the intro was a lot of gentle sweeps to accent the chords and the melody. She wasn't much of an artist, so most of her pony figures were stick ponies, but she soon got to work and if Sky were to look over, he would see and assortment of stick ponies with arrows and directions, as well as different hoofstep diagrams that she'd been using. Although it looked like she was focused on the intro, but she didn't the whole intro scripted as she moved over to there the rave section was and began to draw as fast as she could. Although she had to pause briefly to shake a cramp out of her hoof. She looked over to him and gave a smile, she had to start moving. She couldn't listen to music and stay in one place very long. It was like telling Rainbow Dash there was a race and she had to sit still. It just didn't happen.

 

"Do you think we can start from the top again? I wanna put some of those figures into movements. That and I was getting a bit antsy sitting still... it's a bit of a problem that I have when it comes to music... if you couldn't tell, I kinda have a problem of always having to move with music..." she giggled a bit rubbing the back of her head with her wing. Still, she was ready to go when Sky was and once he would start playing again, she moved into those slow almost ballet-esk type movements, flowing gently from one set of the melody to the other, letting the winds wrap around her as she did. Then the sounds of the strings started to give way, and that similar three stomp progression from the first song came back, but with a few change ups in the routine. After all, she couldn't do the same thing twice...

 

She started off with just some of her wing feathers moving before stomping on the water with the beat, almost like she was trying to get ponies to clap along with her. As more of the electric instrumentation started coming she began to do a bit more in the three beat rhythm. Instead of standing on the water, she let her hooves sink just a bit into the water, using it to accent the movements, every stomp and movement generating a small splash to get caught by her winds and wings. Once again lighting here was going to be crucial. As she could feel the build up to the rave section, she started herself building up the winds for the downburst that would accompany the first bass drop after the first Hello Seaddle. From there, she went airborne, and the downburst with her being so close to the water when she did it, sent quite a bit of mist into the air., and she started doing something that Sky probably hadn't seen her do a lot of to this point. She was using her wings as primary pivot and beat points, rotating in the sky and almost using her wings to seeming bounce on an invisible surface that was a flattened bit of water vapor, using the effect as she would a cloud.

 

Althought she paused for a moment, The music continued but she got a brilliant idea for some of the special effects. and this would definitely let the crowd get much more involved and give them a much larger dance floor for this song. She wanted everypony dancing to this one just as much as she wanted them to be dancing at Fireflies at the end. She wanted everypony to remember this festival and let everypony know that the Las Pegasus Music festival was going forward, never to be missed. Everypony would have so much fun at it, that they would just keep coming, and coming... just the prospect of all of those ponies smiling and having fun made her teary eyed. This was something that could really happen, and they could make it so. But... she shouldn't get too far ahead of herself. She waited for the music to stop, and then she landed next to sky panting a bit.

 

"Hah.... hah... hah... While I was out there on the lake, I got an amazing idea. One that would only work if the board in LP approved the festival, but I was wondering... Ice Storm is an ice mage and from what I've heard from her some of my pony friends around Canterlot, and some of them around here that know her better than I do, a rather potent one at that. I was wondering, if at that third drop of 'Hello Seaddle' We could have her freeze the entire surface in a starburst out from where I hit the surface of the lake with that down burst. Not only would that be an amazing special effect, but that would also make a huge dancing surface for other ponies to get on and be able to dance along with us! Oh wouldn't that be just spectacular!?" she asked excitedly.

[Blueblood]

There was a lot of starting and stopping, as such or more as when Sky had to actually write the music.  It made sense, he supposed, with creativity sometimes happening in fits and starts, other times presenting a clear beginning and ending, but leaving the middle to be filled in later.  He didn't mind, setting his playing and record back as many times as was needed for Windy to set down the swirling thoughts in her mind to fixed figures upon the page.

"I did kind of notice.  Though, if you look at ponies a lot of the time, they don't really stay still.  There's a lot of little movements, hoofing at the ground, and the like.  Actually standing still is a skill as much as anything else."  He shrugged.  "I had a lot of time to practice that myself all the nights I couldn't sleep.  Closest thing to rest I could make myself get sometimes."

 

It was a good thing he knew his own songs backwards and forwards, since it allowed him to watch Windy and play at the same time.  The next break that came around also had an idea within it, carried up by the dancer for consideration.  "Oh!  That would be something, though I wouldn't think ice is a good dancing surface.  Even if you're a pegasi, it's still a big slipping hazard.  Once had a coworker slide on a patch while carrying a whole palette of ice cream, and... well, it wasn't pretty.  Actually, if it's a big crowd... gonna be a lot of sliding and bumping into each other."  The more he talked through the idea, the less he liked the sound of it.  "Yeah... I don't think so.  It's a pretty idea in theory, but there's a reason they have an occupancy limit at ice skating rinks.  And don't turn them into mosh pits."

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

The excitement that was on Wind Dancer's face was slowly fading as she listened to Sky talk and reminded her of one very crucial point that she didn't think of when she first thought of the idea. Ice was a very slippery surface, and even if Miss Storm could freeze the entire lake, the chances of her being able to do so with an icce that was strong enough to support weight would be quite a challenge and could actually endanger ponies. AS much as she loved the idea, "Yeah... I can see your point now that I stopped to think about it, it wouldn't work for a dance floor. However, if she were to make a thin layer of ice across the top of it on that down beat... it would still add the visual effect! And maybe in the following downburst... she could turn it into snow! Plus, that snow would get carried by the wind and we could do so much visually with it!"

 

She was rather set on the idea on something accenting that giant burst of sound on the lake. That part of the routine was just screaming for that to be a major accent point and transition into the next part of the routine. Using ice because it's water was the first thing she thought of, but she began trying to think of other ideas that they could use. "Although, we should probably think of an alternative in case the stories I've heard of Miss Storm's power is a bit... embellished and she can't actually do that. What other options to we have that would work on the surface of the lake? I'm open to suggestions," she said with a smile.

[Blueblood]

Sky was glad to see that Windy wasn't *too* disappointed, but the facts had to be stated.  Still, the ice and snow visualization was an intriguing idea on its own, particularly in a place like Los Pegasus, where such things were never seen naturally.  Or, at least, never were scheduled by the local weather team.  Hm, that might present an obstacle in getting it approved, if the strict environmental control types won out over the showbiz lovers.  Admittedly, not likely, so he didn't say much on the subject, though Windy did give another reason why alternatives might be wanted.  "Hm... Colored lights?  Reflections?"  Not being a unicorn himself, he had only a vague sense of what would be possible.  "I've only worked with indoor special effects, so I couldn't say.  Maybe we're focusing a bit too much on spectacle in any case, you think?"